The student-athletes at the University of Pennsylvania are just that -- student athletes. They come to Penn not just to be members of the University's NCAA Division I athletic programs, but also to receive one of the finest undergraduate educations in the United States and the world.

Penn Athletics is proud of the legacy set forth by these student-athletes, and the numerous honors that have been bestowed on them over the years. The department also works hard to recognize and honor those student-athletes who raise the bar for their classmates and set the standard both in the classroom and in the athletic venues...

*Three of Penn’s five major senior student-athlete awards are based strictly on a letterwinner or participant’s grade-point average, and the other two have a GPA minimum that must be met in order to be eligible.

*Each year, the department hosts an event to honor the student-athletes who had a perfect 4.0 GPA for a semester or academic year.

*At the homecoming football game, Penn recognizes on-field the men’s and women’s teams that boasted the best overall GPA from the previous academic year.

In the latest NCAA Academic Progress Report (APR), released in May 2014, Penn had 17 of 28 eligible programs receive Public Recognition commendations for finishing in the top 10 percent among all Division I programs in their sport including eight which had a perfect score of 1,000. (Five programs -- men’s heavyweight rowing, men’s lightweight rowing, sprint football, men’s and women’s squash -- are not included in the APR, as their sports do not conduct NCAA championships.)